Kipp has been known to utter the occasional gripe. Yes, it is true. Sometimes we gripe in the government’s direction, sometimes in our fellow residents’ directions, and the rest of the time in the direction of business.

Today is a business griping day. Companies operating in this country far too often fail to appreciate, place any value on, or even demonstrate much interest in their customers and consumers. This fact was highlighted last week by a couple of stories that reached Kipp’s ears.

Amit Nayak, a Kipp reader, got in touch with us about some Hero Baby food purchased from Carrefour. Nayak claims that the item bought had fungus in it, and says when they went back to complain the manager said: “This is normal and has happened around six to eight times earlier.” Obviously angered, Amit asked to see the manager in charge and has heard nothing since. Apparently on their advice Amit contacted the distributor, who said it was Carrefour’s problem as they sold the goods. Nayak has receipts and photos to back up the story. But it isn’t the really the dodgy food that’s bothering Nayak, it’s the “sheer indifference.”

“Companies in Dubai have an attitude towards consumers which is not acceptable,” Amit says be e-mail. “These same firms back home work under a totally different setup where they are held accountable for their actions and here its sheer indifference.”

Surprising that these had trouble making this compaint! I have been buying Hero Baby for the last two years for my sons and last year, i had found a chunkier piece of Banana in the Hero Baby Banana which was otherwise, more blended. I had just informed spinneys management, given them the sample and 4 days later i got a call from Hero’s office in spain that they recieved the sample. They sent a complete investigation report along with a apology note / gift hamper and assured made sure that such an incident would never happen again. Similarly, there have been a couple of instances where my family / friends and myself have had to complaint and overall our experience in the regieon has left us greatly impressed !! i think a lot of cosumers have, over time learnt to consistently abuse their rights !!